June 2 , 2008
Hyderabad

A group of six foreign dancers took shelter under a tree, blowing air down the cleavage, to get relief from the simmering pre-monsoon heat. Their Mumbai counterparts were seen under a roof nearby, enjoying the cool fan breeze. It was the scene inside the Annapoorna-7 Acres in Hyderabad. The thinly dressed dancers were waiting to join heroine Charmme over her Introduction song in a bilingual film.

One of the fair girls was talking aloud to her group members. They alone could understand her and none else. They are popularly called as foreign dancers. Neither Tollywood production houses nor the audiences do care for their language and nationality. Mostly, they are referred to as American dancers in the industry. But, they aren’t. They have a tale of pain in alien land.

Glimpses of Foreign girls in Indian films
The so-called foreign dancers checked into the Indian Cinema as early as 1950s thanks to the passionate producers who also liked wide travel. One way or the other, every Hindi film with moderate budget is invariably shot in foreign lands. Our hero shaking legs with the heroine in the backdrop of foreign dancers became a regular feature. In Tollywood, films of Venkatesh actually heralded this trend, which later became a regular feature.

Escalation of terrorist violence in Kashmir valley drove the Indian producers to reach out to Europe in the 80s. Our filmmakers enjoyed working on the alien shores, more so thanks to hospitality and warmth there in the name of tourism. In the years that followed, they had launched frantic scouting of locations in the western world.

It is not our concern whether Tollywood competed with Bollywood in technical standards. But, it has advanced in the matters of shooting in picturesque abroad locations. The foreign dancers who joined our heroes and heroines there found it a big business. Keeping in view of the demand from our producers, dance troupes were formed in the mid 90s. Creation of world standard studio like Ramoji Film City brought these dance troupes directly to Hyderabad. Directors found no need to go in search of foreign girls. With their headquarters in Mumbai, several such troupes operate to quench the aesthetic and inter-continental imagination of our songs composers and choreographers. Agencies and sub-agencies have cropped up in tune with the middleman tradition – akin to the typical Indian trademark. Based on the requirements, the batches are dispatched to Hyderabad. Of course, this facility is still in its baby stage.

Not American, but Belarusian Girls
The foreign girls, shooting in Hyderabad, hail from Belarus, a beautiful highland country right in the centre of Europe. The Belarusian people are a friendly and kind hearted people. The country’s poverty is below one percent. Why do they leave their wonderful land and get roasted in the Indian summer? The girls make it clear: “Dance is in our blood. It is our breath.” Belarus has a rich contribution to the world dance. Till the end of 20th century, these girls held sea of distinction all over Europe and the United States thanks to their domination in multiple genres of dance – folk and ballet.

They still hold their merit in European countries, but are faced with tough competition. Their advancement is thoroughly getting blocked due to domestic domination, coupled with the onslaught of girls from Manila. Spiraling growth of Bollywood, Tollywood and to that matter Kollywood attracted the European based Dance troupes to glide over to Mumbai, and spreading to other areas later. The Belarus girls in Hyderabad are a second or third rung of performers, while the more professional segment of girls find rich encouragement and patronage at international events related to the films, ethnic shows and culture summits, across Europe and elsewhere in the western world.

Enduring bias, heat and jeers
The girls, who have never seen the mercury soaring above 18 degree Celsius in Belarus, boldly face the blistering tropical heat in India.

“We are worst hit by language problem here. Mumbai girls hardly mingle with us. They think we have come here to oust them. But, we are not quarrelsome people. We like to live in tranquility. We feel hurt in situations like these. We are made to sit under hot sun without a breather. We don’t even care for facilities other than cool breeze. Simply, we can’t bear the heat. Except for providing us some creams and ointments, no proper care is taken on us,” a girl said, showing a small stretch of rash on her waistline.

“We are immune to comments surrounding us. You people (Indian dancers) can withstand sweating. Climatic conditions make us to wear minimal clothing. We really don’t care the jeers,” says another girl.

Interestingly, they claim: “We are at a cutting edge when it comes to performance. Basically, we are aerobic lovers. We don’t need to practice much thanks to our radical tuning of the body. Our Mumbai friends (rivals) are jealous of our flexibility and sharp features.”

Getting the food of their choice is a big difficulty. “Thank God, we are getting good food, but mostly not of our choice. We like spicy dishes, but too much of oil is spread on them. On such occasions, we have no option but get adjusted to it.”

Compared to Mumbai, they find Tollywood a comfortable place, though not lucrative. Once in a year, they visit their blissful Belarus. Some girls come back again. Some don’t. But, a lingering hope that this kind of inter-continental taste in Indian films will remain for long reflects in their tranquil eyes.